


The Lies That Bind (Part One)

by boltschick2612



Series: The Lies That Bind [1]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: M/M, Tampa Bay Lightning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-09
Updated: 2013-01-09
Packaged: 2017-11-24 05:45:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/631086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boltschick2612/pseuds/boltschick2612
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A shared lie between friends complicates two relationships.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Lies That Bind (Part One)

July 8th, 2011

 

"He's gone. He's gone, and it's all my fault......our fault," Ryan was sitting on the couch, talking to the other man in the living room but not looking at him. He couldn't. There was no way in hell that he could make eye contact with Steve Downie right now, and he just continued to stare straight ahead at the wall. Ryan had called Steve earlier that afternoon saying that Steve needed to come over because they "needed to talk". Steve told him that he was out to lunch with Stammer, and that he would stop by afterwards. At which point Ryan told Steve to make sure he came alone.

Upon hanging up with Ryan, Steve became confused. Why would Ryan ask him not to bring Steven? As far as he knew, Ryan and Stamkos were good friends....they all were. Not to mention the fact that  "We need to talk" is something someone would say to someone they're involved with and while Ryan and Steve were close friends, they weren't significant others. Downie had Stamkos, and Ryan had Mike Smith. Well, he did until..........

"Yeah, I'm sorry about Smitty signing with Phoenix....I can understand why you would be upset about that....." Downie said while thinking how he would feel if Stamkos signed with another team, and he didn't have to think very hard, as that was a real possibility, now that Stamkos' contract was expired.

When Downie pulled his car into Ryan's driveway earlier, the sun was just setting, turning the sky a shade of purpleish-pink, and Downie let himself in, just as Ryan instructed. He was greeted by the sight of Ryan sitting on the couch in his living room, the setting sun streaming in through the windows, casting the same purple-pink hue across half of Ryan's face. Downie then took a seat in the arm chair that was facing the sofa that Ryan was sitting on, and had remained there the entire time.

"I am truly sorry and you know I'm here for you, if you ever need anything," Downie said, thinking that maybe the reason Ryan had asked him to come over was that he needed a friend to talk to, someone that would understand, someone who almost was in his same position. Then something occurred to Steve.

"You said it was your fault, our fault.....what did-"  Downie started to ask before Ryan cut his sentence short.

"I told him. I told him everything, and now he's gone", Ryan answered, still staring at the wall. While Ryan may not have been looking at Steve, Steve was looking at him, and he could swear he saw a single tear rolling down his cheek before he reached up to wipe it away, trying to play it off as if he was just pushing his hair out of his eyes.

It took Downie a few moments to realize what Ryan was talking about when he said "I told him everything" but once he did, he felt his stomach drop, the blood drain from his face, and his pulse quicken. He realized that Ryan had told Mike about that one night that they had slept together while Stamkos was away at the All Star Game and Mike was in Norfolk.

Ryan sat there, letting the silence permeate his soul, and mind went back to that night, remembering how it all started.

 

 

 

January 28th, 2011

 

The whole team had a week off in the last week of January, because of the All Star Game. The only team members that didn't have the time off were Stamkos and St.Louis, as they were attending the event. Ryan and Steve saw this as the perfect opportunity to do something they haven't done in a long time....lay low and hang out. Ryan and Steve used to be very tight, but they started to drift apart when Ryan got involved with Mike and Steve got involved with Steven.

"Dude....I know you miss Smitty, but PLEASE don't make me watch 'Gremlins' again! I swear to God, I'll hip check you!"   
Downie said, laughing.

"Ok, fine....what do you suggest?" Ryan asked.

"Dumb and Dumber....we haven't seen that one in awhile, that used to be 'our movie'. I'm Dumb, and you're WAY DUMBER!"  
Downie laughed while grabbing the bowl of popcorn that Bugsy had just made and sat down on the soft leather couch.

"Our movie? Something you're not telling me Downs?" Ryan chuckled while standing in front of the DVD rack, looking through the movies. He pulled out the movie that Downie had requested, walked over to the DVD player and put the movie in. He walked back over to couch, stopped, and immediately started to laugh.

"What? What's so funny?" Downie asked, raising his eyebrows.

"It's just......nothing. I just thought......" Ryan started, hesitating.

"WHAT!?" Downie said smiling, he was laughing, but only because Ryan was laughing. Truth be told, he was actually kinda nervous.

"Well, I was just remembering the last time we hung out and you-" Ryan started to say, still laughing.

 

Downie held up his hand, making the stop motion. "Can we please not talk about that,eh? That was a long time ago," Downie said, trying his best to sound stern, but he couldn't help but let a small smile creep to his lips.

"Fine, we won't talk about the time that you got drunk and you tried to fuck me," Bugsy said, still smiling. He sat down on the couch next to a shocked looking Downie.

"You are such an ass," Downie said, playfully slapping Ryan on the arm. The incident had happened shortly before Ryan had paired up with Mike and Steve had paired up with Steven, and although nothing came of it and no one was hurt, they still never talked about it after that day.

Ryan got up again and went to the kitchen, he then came back with a 24 case of Budweiser and set it on the floor.

"Wanna kill it?" Bugsy asked while sitting down next to Downie on the couch. What Bugsy was referring to was the case of beer and wither or not the two of them wanted to make it their jobs to dispatch of the entire case.

"We haven't done that in........years. I don't know if that's a good idea," Downie said.

"Why not? No games all week, no practice for two days.......give me one good reason!" Ryan said smirking.

"Because of what happened last time I got drunk around you, and I can't afford it this time," Downie thought to himself.

But instead Downie just said "Ok, fine" against his better judgement.

Ryan sat down on the couch, grabbed a beer, popped it open, and chugged it down in three swallows.

"Well, you better get cracking Bub, if you're going to keep up," Ryan said laughing.

Downie reached down to the case, pulled out a beer, cracked it open, and started to chug, all the while wondering what he had gotten himself into.

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                      -X-

 

 

Downie awoke a couple hours later, still on Ryan's couch. His head was spinning, and his stomach was churning. "Damn, how much did I drink?" Downie wondered out loud. He was a little surprised when he got an answer.

"You only got to nine, pussy. Looks like you couldn't handle it," Ryan said. He was still sitting on the end of the couch, same place he had been when they started drinking. Downie sat up, and immediately knew that was a bad decision, as it made his head spin even more, which in turn made his stomach churn even more. He jumped up and ran to the bathroom, and he was so focused on the spinning in his head and the clenching in his stomach that he didn't notice that Ryan was following right behind him. Downie had just finished emptying the entire contents of his stomach when he heard a voice from the doorway.

"You feel better now?"

.

"Yeah," Downie wearily responded.

"Good, because you really are a pussy,"  Ryan said and walked away laughing. A few minutes later Ryan returned to the bathroom with a glass of ice water and handed it to Downie.

"You know what happened to the last guy that called me a pussy?" Downie asked while reaching out to accept the glass.

"Yeah, Matt Hendricks. And as I remember, HE gave YOU a black eye," Ryan said walking away, but this time going to sit back down on the couch.

It was a few minutes before the room stopped spinning enough for Downie to pick himself up off the floor and walk back to the living room where Bugsy was now sitting on the couch.

"Dude....I...." Downie started.

"Am not driving home," Ryan finished the sentence for him. Ryan got up, walked over to Downie, put his hands on this shoulders, turned him around to face the guest bedroom and said "Come on, to bed with you. I guess this is my fault." He proceeded to steer Downie towards the guest room. Once the crossed the threshold of the room, Ryan playfully shoved him further into the room and said "There you go, goodnight."

Ryan wasn't able to turn around and leave because Downie had reached behind him and grabbed onto Ryan's shirt in a way that caused him to fall forward when he pushed him into the room. Downie fell forward, landing face first onto the floor with a thud, followed by Ryan falling right on top of him. Downie twisted his body around so that instead of laying face down on the floor, he was now face up, nose to nose with Ryan.

"I......" Ryan started to say.

"Shut up," Downie said, and next thing they both knew, their lips were touching. Then it was Ryan's mouth on Downie's collar bone, and Downie's head was spinning again, but for a different reason. Ryan's lips were back on his, nipping at his lower lip. Downie raised his hips up, grinding against him, and now it was Ryan's head that was spinning. He could feel the heat that was emanating from Downie through his clothes. Downie undid his pants and raised his shirt over his head before reaching up and doing the same to Ryan.

Downie then turned his body again so that he was face down on the floor again. He could feel the weight of Ryan on top of him, he relished in the sensation of Ryan's bare skin on touching his. Ryan ran both of his hands down Downie's arms then when he got to his hands, he wove his fingers through Downie's ,clasped down, and brought his hands above his head, with Downie still pinned down face first on the floor. Ryan started kissing and biting at the back of Downie's neck in a way that he was sure would leave marks, if not raw skin. Downie lifted his hips again, lifting his ass slightly in the air, coming into contact with Ryan's thighs and that was all the prompting that he needed.

"You sure you wanna do this?" Ryan asked, his mouth just inches away from Downie's ear, and the feeling of Ryan's breath of his cheek turned Downie on even more.

"No....are you?" Downie whispered.

"No....but do you want to stop?" Ryan asked.

"Not at all."

 

 

 

 

 

July 8th, 2011

Ryan's realized he was still staring straight ahead at the wall, and probably had been for at least five minutes, he had almost forgotten that there was someone else in the room.

"I......really don't know what to say...are you sure that's why he went to Phoenix?" Downie asked.

"Without a doubt," Ryan said , his whole body numb, he had been physically and mentally numb for about a week now.

"Are....are you going to tell Steven?" Downie asked, his pulse racing faster than it ever has, even after a double shift on the ice.

"No. That's not my place. But I think that maybe you should."

 

 

 

 

 

June 25th, 2011

  
Ryan and Mike were laying in bed at Mike's house on a Sunday afternoon. Ryan had been up for about thirty minutes, but he had decided to enjoy his day off and lay in bed until he felt damn good and ready to get up. Mike was still sound asleep, he had already decided that he was going to be using his day off to sleep as long as humanly possible. It was 10am, and while this probably wasn't sleeping in as far as most people were concerned, it was for professional athletes who were used to being up around 7am to be at the rink. Ryan turned his head towards Mike when he heard a stirring on the other side of the bed, Mike was awake.

"Morning. How long do we have until Brigitte comes back?" Ryan asked Mike, referring to the fact that Mike's wife had gone to visit her parents for a few days.

"She won't be back for another two days," Mike said smiling at Ryan.

"Then I suggest we should spend ALL day in bed...what do you think?" Ryan asked Mike, hoping that Mike would agree with his idea. "Not leaving for anything," Ryan added.

"Well, we have to eat..."

"That's what delivery is for!" Ryan laughed.

"No one delivers to my bedroom!" Mike said, laughing while getting up and heading to the bathroom.

"I DO!" Ryan yelled after him, Mike was now in the bathroom, and Ryan wasn't sure if Mike had heard him. Ryan heard the sound of the shower being turned on, and decided to get up and walk into the bathroom where Mike was just stepping into the shower.

"Hey, I thought we were going to stay in bed all day?" Ryan asked, stripping himself of his clothes so that he can join Mike in the shower.

"Well, you don't want me to stink, do you?" Mike asked from the other side of the shower curtain. Ryan pulled back the shower curtain and stepped inside the shower.

"Hey, did I say you could join me? I want to actually clean up, not get more dirty,"  Mike said smiling while he let the water pour down over his head, soaking his normally curly, full hair and causing it to become matted to his head.

"Tough," Ryan said, leaning closer to the spray of water coming from the shower head, closing the gap between Mike and himself. Ryan was standing in the spray when Mike reached behind him and put his arm around his waist. Ryan's hand went to Mike's waist, imitating the gesture that Mike had just used on him. Now, there was no space at all between them.

Not even the tiny drops of water coming from the shower head could make their way in between their naked bodies. Ryan's naked chest was pressed up against Mike's bare back, Ryan's hips, groin, thighs, pressing up against Mike's bare ass.

Ryan shut his eyes, let the hot water pour over him and relished the feeling of having a day off, being here with Mike, and not having anything else to do but stand in the shower naked, all day if he wanted to. Ryan moved his hands from around Mike's waist up to his chest, he rested his chin on Mike's shoulder and whispered into his ear "You done trying to clean up yet?"

Ryan then moved his hands lower and lower on Mike until his hands found their intended destination. Ryan then started moving his hand on Mike, eliciting a moan. Ryan again closed his eyes, letting his mind go to some of the trysts he had with Mike in the past. The memories started to play in his mind, motivating him, not that he needed any more motivation. He was smiling...until the movie scenes changed.

 

No longer was Ryan reliving in his head the passionate moments he had shared with Mike, now he was witnessing in his mind the one mistake he had shared with Downie. He was seeing Steve face down on the floor in the guest room, seeing himself kiss the back of Downie's neck, seeing the way Downie lifted his ass up towards him as he entering him from behind. Ryan tried to stop the movie that was playing in his mind, but it seemed it wasn't as easy as pushing the "PAUSE" button. It was a very good thing that Mike's back was to Ryan, or else he would have seen Ryan suddenly turn pale and wince.

"I need to get out," Ryan said pushing the curtain away in a hurry. Ryan put one leg over the side of the bathtub, followed by the other, then grabbed a towel and ran for the bedroom, leaving Mike alone in the shower to wonder what in the hell had just happened.

Mike shut off the water, got out and grabbed a towel and headed for the bedroom that Ryan had just ran to. Ryan was sitting on the edge of the bed, his head resting in his hands, when Mike entered the room.

"Are you ok? What the hell was that?" Mike asked, eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"I...no. I don't know how....where..." Ryan started, hesitated before finally just coming out with it. "I slept with Downie."

Mike was standing in front if the bed where Ryan was sitting, and he suddenly felt extremely vulnerable, very aware and uncomfortable with his nakedness. Mike walked over to the dresser drawer, grabbed shorts and a shirt, all the while keeping the same concerned look on his face, but now the concern was for a different reason. Mike got dressed and returned to his original spot standing in front of Ryan, who had his head down in his hands again, except now his hands were trembling.

"When?" Mike asked in a tone of voice the was bordering on combative.

"January," Ryan answered, he was taking all his strength not to totally fall apart, he could barely muster more than a few words at a time.

"Figures," Mike scoffed.

"What?" Ryan asked, lifting his head up for the first time, looking Mike in the eyes. As soon as Ryan looked into his eyes, he winced as if in pain, and put his head back down.

"When I was at Norfolk. While I was slumming it up in the Minors, working my ass off, trying to rehab my knee and improve my game in the hopes that maybe I'd be good enough for them to call me back up so I could be here with you again, and you were busy having a blast and forgetting about me," Mike said and closed his eyes. He sighed, slowly let out a breath, and opened his eyes again.  

 

"That was six months ago..." Mike said clenching his jaw.

"I know. I should have said something sooner," Ryan said ashamed.

"...or not done it at all," Mike hissed.

"Who else did you fuck while I was gone?" Mike said snarkily. "Not including your random road sluts, your wife doesn't care about them and neither do I."

Ryan fought back the urge to unleash a snarky comment of his own, because while Mike may have just delivered a low blow, Ryan knew he deserved it. He closed his eyes and tried to regain his mental strength before continuing.

"No one... and the thing with Downie.....it didn't mean a thing, we were both drunk and......he was more drunk than me. I guess it was my fault, I egged him on to drink..." Ryan said, the words rushing out of him as if a dam broke.

"I bet you had it all planned that way," Mike snorted.

"It didn't mean anything," Ryan said before adding "I love you, I'm sorry."

Mike didn't say a word, he just walked out of the room, grabbed his car keys and walked out the front door.

 

Ryan wanted to stop him, but couldn't move. He tried several times, it was if he was strapped to the bed. He sat there for a hour before trying to call Mike on his cell phone, and he really wasn't shocked when he got no answer.

 

 

 

January 21st, 2012

 

Ryan was unpacking his gear in a Phoenix hotel room, dreading the entire game, the entire trip. The Tampa Bay Lightning were in town for the first and only meeting of the two teams that season. It wasn't the possible loss that Ryan was worried about, or the bumps and bruises that he knew were going to come from what he was sure was going to be a hard fought game. What made him so uneasy was the fact the Mike Smith was now the starting goaltender for the Phoenix Coyotes. It was 2:17 in the afternoon, and Ryan had just got back to his hotel room from the long Morning Skate. He was just thinking how hungry he was when there was a knock on the door. He walked across the plush hotel carpet and opened the door. Standing there was a very tired looking Steve Downie.

"What's up?" Ryan asked, still standing in the doorway. Ryan was tired, hungry and not in the mood for visitors.

"Are you going to be ok with this?" Downie said, getting straight to the point.

Ryan didn't bother to ask what Downie was talking about, because he already knew. He knew Downie was asking him if he was going to be able to play on the same ice as Mike Smith tonight.

"Yep. Looks like this is the only time I'll ever get to see him so....." Ryan said, letting his sentence trail off.

"Ok, man. Just didn't want it affecting your play tonight," Downie said, a little concerned about his friend.

"Yep. Fine," Ryan said curtly, at this point he desperately just wanted to get rid of Downie and take a nap before the game.

"You do it every day," Ryan said, referring to the fact that Downie was actually on the same team with the person he had wronged, beside him everyday.

"That's why I'm asking. Because I know how hard it is," Downie said, lowering his eyes. 

A few minutes of silence passed between them before Downie looked up to meet Ryan's eyes and said "Well, I'm sure you want to take your 'Game Day Nap' so I'm gonna go, let me know if you need anything. Don't forget we are still friends."

"I know," Ryan said, a little ashamed that he had been so wrapped up in what he lost with Mike since this whole thing started that he had completely ignored what he had lost with Downie. Ryan shut the door, shuffled back over to the bed and burrowed under the covers. As tired as he was, he doubted that he would be able to sleep. Ryan was very wrong as he drifted right off to sleep....

 

 

                                                                                                   -X-

 

 

 

Ryan was skating loops around his half of the ice. Occasionally he would attempt to shoot the puck into the net that had Dwayne Roloson planted in front of it, and Dwayne was trying to stop the pucks that were being shot at him by his team mates. Both teams were on the ice for warm-ups at the Jobing.com Arena. He was on the same side of the ice as the rest of his team, but he was paying more attention to the opposite side of the ice. His eyes kept wandering to the side that was occupied by the Coyotes, and the goalie that had made a home in front of their net.

Mike Smith was moving swiftly from left to right in front of his net, stopping his team mates shots, stretching, bending, putting on a perfect show of goalie acrobatics. In another time and place, if this was a few years ago, and they were both in Tampa, this display would turn Ryan on more than he could ever imagine. But it was now a time in when he had hurt Mike beyond words, and Mike was on the opposing team. Ryan knew the reason Mike left was because of him, although Mike had never actually said those words.

Ryan's attention snapped back to his own side of the ice. He shot a puck at Roloson, and the goalie stopped it without much effort. Ryan hoped that his weak attempt to put the puck in the net wasn't going to be an indication of how he was going to be playing all night long. His eyes went back to the other side of the ice. Warm Ups were almost over, and Ryan was looking to see which Coyotes Goalie was first off the ice, he wanted to see which of their goalies was starting. His heart started pounding in his chest when he saw his former best friend and love skate away from the net and towards the locker room before any of the rest of his team. Ryan's legs felt weak as he started to skate towards his own locker room.

 

 

                                                                                                   -X-

  

 

The First Period got off to a fast start, and both teams came out of the gate hard. Phoenix loved to play a hard checking, physical game and Ryan loved that. He was known as a checking force and he loved to crash the net and get up in the opposing team's goalie's space, irritate them, ruffle their feathers. Ryan hadn't been doing much of that tonight, he preferred to keep his trouble making to the the other areas of the ice.

.

During the First Period Intermission, the Lightning were sitting in the locker room, listening to a heart felt speech from their coach. Well, most of the team was listening. Ryan's mind was elsewhere, and before he knew it, they were back on the ice battling against the Coyotes. There were more checks, more hits, more chances, and a goal by Boyd Gordon. 

The Lightning went into the Third Period tied at one. More checking, more rushing, but no goals yet. It was 18:39 in the Third,  1.21 minutes left in Regulation. Ryan found himself parked in front of the Coyotes' net, his whole body in the blue paint despite his avoidance of that area all night. His team was tied with very little time to turn things in their favor, Ryan knew he needed to step up.

Stamkos and Downie were skating up on the wings, passing the puck back and forth. Ryan skated backwards, further imposing on Mike's crease. Mike starting yelling while crouching forward, trying to see around Ryan's large frame obstructing his vision.

"BACK OFF!" Mike yelled and Ryan skated further backwards, creating a screen for the two players that were rushing up on both sides.

"I SAID BACK THE FUCK OFF!"  Mike yelled, this time so loud that even his coach on the bench heard him.

Mike started pushing at Ryan's back while still yelling, and Ryan ignored him. There was some small part of Ryan's mind that was attune to the fact that Mike was touching him, but he tried to keep his mind on the game and the puck that was coming his way on the stick of Steven Stamkos.

Stamkos stopped just a few feet away from Ryan and slapped the puck to him and it landed right on his stick. Ryan turned his body to face the goaltender, and shot the puck. He didn't need to put much strength behind the shot as he was right in front of the net, he just needed to find an opening. And he found one.

It shot right through the five hole on Mike, and it was behind him in the net before he ever knew what happened. Mike quickly turned and looked behind him, saw the puck in the net, and he knew who had put it there. He straightened up and slammed his goalie stick on the side post, snapping it in two.

Mike then reached up to grab his mask and ripped it off, throwing it down on the ice. His goalie gloves were the next to be thrown off. Ryan was so busy staring into Mike's eyes and all the fury that was contained in them that he didn't notice Mike's right hand come up until it connected with his jaw.  It all happened so fast that the Lightning players on the ice didn't even have time to come together to celebrate Ryan's Game Winning Goal.

Ryan lost all sense who the offending goalie was and tried to connect with a right hook of his own, but Mike dodged it. Mike felt a tugging on his jersey, no doubt one of Ryan's team member's trying to jump in the fray to defend him, and he looked to his left to see Steve Downie.

"YOU REALLY DON'T WANT ANY OF THIS!" Mike yelled, raising a fist to Downie, using the hand that wasn't holding Ryan by the collar of his jersey. Downie looked over to his left to see Stamkos with a disgusted look on his face, and Downie knew that Steven was aware exactly what this fight was all about.

Mike was about to lay another punch on Ryan's face when the Referee came in between them and broke up the fight.

Ryan got a two minute penalty and with only 45 seconds left in the game, and he skated off to the Visitor's Locker Room instead of the Penalty Box, which he would have done regardless of how much time was left in the game.

 

 

 

                                                                                                            -X-

 

Ryan was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding a bag of ice to his jaw. It turned out his former soul mate had a mean right hook. He was sure that his jaw was going to be bothering him for at least a week. As much as his jaw hurt, his heart was hurting more. His one and only chance to hopefully rectify things with Mike, and he fucked it up. The knowledge that he was never going to see Mike Smith again and they had left things the way the did, was leaving a pressure in the center of his chest that was immeasurable. He was just about to get up and get some more ice for the ice pack when he heard a knock on the door. No doubt one of his team mates, checking on him, probably Downie, as he was the only one who truly knew what was going on in Ryan's mind.

"I'm fine. Going to bed. Please go," Ryan yelled at the door without getting up off the bed. Another knock came shortly after.

"Downs, please, I'm not in the mood. I'll talk to you tomorrow," Ryan yelled again. Another knock followed.

Ryan let out an exasperated sigh and got up and walked to the door. He unlocked and opened the door, and it wasn't Downie that was standing there.

"Expecting Downie, huh?" Mike said. His voice was one of anger but his eyes betrayed his true feelings, this time not of rage, but of intense anguish and hurt. Ryan was socked that he was standing there, face to face with Mike Smith, a man he never thought he would see ever again.

"I....uh...no....um...I mean..." Ryan tried to get the words out, but his mind was reeling and Ryan found it impossible to come up with a coherent thought. Mike decided to start the conversation, hopefully alleviating Ryan's nervousness.

"I'll start....I'm sorry. For punching you. But you were crashing my crease," Mike said, letting out a small sideways smile at this last part.  

"No, I wasn't expecting Downie, I just thought he was coming to see how I was doing..." Ryan said, silently kicking himself for assuming it was Downie coming to see him and for shouting his name at the door.

"How are you doing? How's your jaw?" Mike asked raising a hand to point to Ryan's face. Ryan didn't even realize he was still holding the ice bag against this face until Mike had pointed to it. He took the bag of ice away, and Mike winced upon seeing the black, blue and green splotch that was creeping across Ryan's jaw line.

 

"That bad?" Ryan asked smiling just a little, same as Mike had a few minutes ago when joking about Ryan crashing the net.

"You of all people should know that I was going to set up camp in front of the net, that's how I play..." Ryan said.

"Yeah, I know. But I noticed that you weren't doing that....and I thought it was because of us," Mike said, casting his eyes down at the brown carpet in the hotel room entry way.

"Was the punch because of us?" Ryan asked, knowing that he wouldn't like the answer.

Mike sighed before saying "Yeah.... I lost it."

Ryan stepped back and opened the door further, inviting Mike into the room using his body language. Mike crossed the threshold and stepped into the room.

"I am so.....so sorry," Ryan started. He was standing up right next to the bed, the back of his legs touching the edge of the bedframe. 

"I know. I've seen in just a few hours time how anguished you are. I saw you staring at me all throughout Warm Ups. I was staring at you too," Mike said. "And I've heard all about it."

"You heard?" Ryan asked surprised.

"Yeah, I still do have friends in Tampa, you know. Just not the one that I wanted to have the most," Mike said while walking closer to Ryan.

"I know what this has done to you. Hell, has done to us. I fucking went to Arizona because of it! I think it's time we both stop living in this hell," Mike said.

"But you can't come back, you have a contract here," Ryan said, it was a subject he had thought of many times since Mike had left.

"I know. Maybe it's for the better that I'm here. I'm a starter, and I'm doing really well. But maybe one day....." Mike said, moving closer to Ryan.

"You forgive me? Just like that?" Ryan asked and reached out to put his hands on Mike's hips. This was the first intimate contact Ryan had with Mike in months, and it sent chills throughout him.

"No, not just like that, but I sure am trying. Like I said, I know what's it done to you. I know how sorry you are, and I know that it was a meaningless mistake,"  Mike said while placing his hands on Ryan's hips in return.

"I am sor-" Ryan started to say, but his words were cut short by Mike's lips touching his. Mike circled his hands around to Ryan's back, and he pulled him into him, even closer. He ran his fingers up and down Ryan's back as the continued their kiss.

"We don't have that much time,"  Mike said. That was all Ryan needed to hear. Ryan lifted Mike's shirt up over his head, and paused for a moment to take in the sight of Mike's body. Mike then did the same to Ryan and reached down to undo his pants when Ryan stopped him.

"Wait,"  Ryan said, holding Mike's hands in his.

"What?" Mike asked, his heart racing, Ryan's hesitation had him worried...was there something else Ryan needed to say? something else he needed to confess?

"I want to remember you like this,"  Ryan said, looking Mike up and down. Mike's heart skipped a beat, and after a few seconds, Mike decided that was long enough. He pulled Ryan towards him, covering Ryan's mouth with his own.

He reached and undid the button on Ryan's pants and slid them down, he wasn't wearing anything underneath, and Mike decided to use this to his full advantage. Mike went down onto his knees in front of Ryan and took him into his mouth. Moans escaped from Ryan, followed by him calling out Mike's name, causing Mike to let  a moan of his own with Ryan still in his mouth, further escalating his pleasure.

"Get up here, I'm not ready to end it yet," Ryan said looking down at Mike. Mike stood up and freed himself of his pants, Ryan sat down on the bed.

"Come here,"  Ryan said to Mike while pulling him on top of him. He arched up his hips, grinding against Mike. Now it was his turn to let out moans of pleasure.

"Hope you know you're getting no sleep tonight,"  Mike said smiling.

"I'm counting on it," Ryan said, and let his signature smirk creep across his face.

 

                                                                                               -X-

 

Ryan was awakened by a knock on his door. Despite both of their proclamations that they weren't going to be sleeping that night, they did indeed fall asleep 3 hours prior, but not before releasing six months of longing into a single night. He got up and groggily walked towards the door. He paused for a moment to look back at Mike's sleeping form. He reluctantly unlocked the door, opening it just a crack so that whoever was on the other side couldn't see into the room. The "whoever" was Ryan's Captain, Vinny.

"Hey Bugs, we're all meeting downstairs for breakfast before the bus to the airport.You got 20 minutes," Vinny said through the small crack.

"Thanks Vin, I'll be there," Ryan said before starting to shut the door. Vinny put his hand gently on the door to stop it from closing all the way, and then smiled lopsided grin.  "Tell Mike we said 'Hi' and good luck here." Ryan closed the door and walked back to the bed.

"You don't have to tell Mike, I heard him,"  Mike's voice came from the bed. "Tell the guys I miss them."

Ryan sat on the edge of the bed and turned his head towards Mike. "Did you miss me?"

"Of course I did," Mike said, sitting up and resting his chin on Ryan's heavily tattooed shoulder.

"Still love me?" Ryan asked in a small voice.

"Yes,"  Mike answered, planting a kiss on Ryan's cheek.

"Still soulmates?" Ryan asked in the same small voice.

"We never weren't. Things like that never change."  Mike smiled and wrapped his arms around Ryan's waist. Mike never wanted to let go, and Ryan never wanted him to.

Ryan sighed and said "The off season can not come fast enough."


End file.
